1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to bottle assemblies having preformed bottle liners. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to expandable preformed liners.
2. Description of Related Art
Reusable baby bottles or hard bottles, such as those made of glass or plastic, have been commonly used to feed babies milk, formula, water, and other liquids. After the liquid is placed in the bottle, a nipple is attached to the bottle and the assembly is ready for use. The hard bottle is typically cleaned and sterilized between each use, requiring substantial time and effort. Another limitation inherent in hard bottles is the tendency of babies to ingest substantial amounts of air when ingesting the liquid. This air can cause uncomfortable distention and gas in the baby's stomach, and may lead to vomiting and other problems.
More recently, an alternative to the hard bottle in the form of a disposable bottle liner has been proposed. The liner is used in conjunction with a holder that supports the bag. The liner, which is used only once, is pre-sterilized, and is inserted into the holder. The liner is then filled with liquid, and a nipple is attached to the holder. This alternative is economical and sanitary, and greatly minimizes the time and effort required to prepare for feeding a baby. Further, the liners collapse as liquid is drawn out, thus minimizing the amount of air the baby ingests.
Disposable bottle liners typically take one of two forms. One type of disposable bottle liner is formed in the shape of a flat bag or sac. The flat bag or sac type liner is installed over the rim of the holder and, once filled, expands out against the holder. Thus, such flat bag or sac type liners provide a filled volume that is substantially equal to the internal volume of the holder. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to install the flat bag or sac type liners on the rim of the holder. Further, the liner, once installed on the rim of the holder, can often slip off the rim while filling of the liner, resulting in a spill.
Another particular type of disposable bottle liner that has recently become popular is known as a preformed liner. Such preformed liners are preformed from a semi-rigid polymer in a generally cylindrical shape and, thus, are easily installed by dropping the liner into the holder. Unfortunately, prior art preformed liners can only provide a filled volume that is equal to that of the internal volume of the liner and not the holder. As a result, the volume can only be increased by increasing the overall size of both the liner and the holder. However, increasing the size is impracticable, since the larger size may become difficult for a child to use. Additionally, increasing the size would result in higher manufacturing costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for preformed bottle liners that overcome, alleviate, and/or mitigate one or more of the aforementioned and other deleterious effects of prior art liners.